Ahead of ‘Desi’ Polls, Congress, AAP Begin Wooing Punjab’s NRIs

Despite sound advice, Capt Amarinder Singh visits Canada, while AAP goes into poll mode in Punjab, writes Vipin Pubby

Top leaders of Punjab Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are trying hard to woo the large number of non-resident Indians (NRIs) settled abroad. A couple of ministers of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) too had tried to garner the support of NRIs earlier but the party abandoned its plans once some of the expatriate Indians were heckled and not allowed to enter gurdwaras.

Although Punjabi NRIs are spread across the world, the two opposition parties are particularly focusing on North America and Europe. The NRIs settled there traditionally take keen interest in political affairs back home. Some of them had also been camping here during the run-up to the election campaign to encourage their friends and relatives to vote for their favourite candidates. However, they are most sought after by various parties and candidates for the resources they can provide, particularly funding.

A recent amendment to the Representation of People Act has allowed voting rights to NRIs who are registered voters in India if they haven’t obtained any other citizenship. They can now also register as voters online but have to come to India to cast their vote. This resulted in only a minuscule number of NRIs voting in the previous by-election. They are now demanding that they be allowed to exercise their franchise in polling booths set up in Indian missions abroad.

Diaspora Factor in Punjab

• Political leaders in Punjab, from Capt Amarinder Singh to Kejriwal make a beeline for visiting foreign countries in a bid to woo the NRIs.
  
• NRIs emerge as a crucial vote bank with voting rights being granted to them after an amendment in the Representation of People’s Act in 2010.
  
• Parties in Punjab seem to be keener for funds from the NRIs than the votes.
  
• Capt Amarinder Singh visits Canada despite Prashant Kishor’s advise not to do so; AAP takes advantage through its ‘Punjab Bolda’ campaign.
• AAP focuses on the NRIs again since their support had resulted in the party emerging as a victor in Delhi in 2013.
  

Wooing NRIs

Former Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh, who is now leading the Congress’ campaign in the state, is currently away on a three week visit to North America to seek support from NRIs. Delhi CM and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, whose party was first off the blocks to campaign in Punjab, is visiting Canada this month. The AAP has a strong support base abroad, and one of the reasons for its success in Delhi, as also in Punjab where it won four Lok Sabha seats, has been the unstinted support from abroad.

However, political analysts doubt if Kejirwal and Singh’s tours abroad would make any major difference on the ground. Pointing out that wooing NRIs and seeking their support was grossly hyped, political analysts said such efforts are typical of Punjab politicians. Neither politicians from Gujarat nor Kerala, two states which have perhaps higher number of NRIs than Punjab, make such trips to seek support of NRIs. The very timing of the visits abroad, ten months before the elections but during the peak summer heat in the state, is a “giveaway”, they said.

Prashant Kishor’s Plan for Punjab

Capt Amarinder Singh received a setback when he was denied permission by the Canadian government to address election rallies in that country. The Canadian authorities invoked provisions of Global Affairs Canada (GAC) which forbids conduct of “election campaign in Canada or establish foreign political parties and movements in Canada”.  The Congress leader wrote a highly critical and angry letter to the Canadian government but to no avail.

He also had to cancel his visit to some parts of Canada following a complaint filed against him by an organisation, ‘Sikhs for Justice’, alleging that he was involved in human rights violations and torture of Sikhs during his tenure as Punjab CM. Apparently fearing arrest or court summons, Amarinder cancelled his visit and instead interacted with supporters there via Skype. He was also heckled by pro-Khalistan elements at some of the gatherings he had addressed.

Capt Amarinder Singh reportedly has gone abroad despite the advise against it by political strategist Prashant Kishor. He had launched a couple of ambitious campaigns involving the former chief minister.

One of these was Punjab da Kaptan (Punjab’s Captain) under which Amarinder was to address students across the state. It involved creating teams of youth called kaptans. The other was ‘Coffee with Captain’ -- on the lines of Modi’s Chai pe Charcha -- in which Amarinder was to engage with different groups of people.

Party insiders say he was told that wooing NRIs would not be as beneficial when compared to meeting voters on the ground. While Amarinder said he had committed to these meetings, he agreed to curtail his tour abroad from the planned four to three weeks.

With Amarinder’s departure, Prashant Kishor’s team is left twiddling its thumbs and watching AAP going ahead with the initiative, Punjab Bolda, on the lines of Delhi Dialogue to interact with different groups. The team is now drawing up plans to step up its campaign on Amarinder’s return.

AAP Banks on NRIs

AAP had been drawing the support of NRIs mainly through social media. Besides, some party’s supporters, particularly the young and the educated, are in Punjab, working at grassroots level. They helping running the party’s social media campaign and keeping a hawk eye on the moves and counter-moves of political rivals. Posters are already up in Canada and other places where Kejriwal is likely to address NRIs. AAP supporters have launched a “Chalo Punjab 2017” campaign.

A spokesman of the AAP team in Canada, Joban Randhawa, said that the party’s target is to send at least 1,000 NRIs to each of the 117 assembly constituencies by December this year. Many of them may not have enrolled themselves as voters but would be at hand to actively campaign for party candidates. Similar campaigns are being run in the US, Europe and Australia which have a significant number of NRIs. While the exact number of NRIs from Punjab is not available, they are estimated at about 10 lakh in Canada and between 12 to 14 lakh in the US.

Kejriwal’s proposed has enthused AAP supporters who have put up posters in towns he would visit and have brought out calendars, diaries and T-shirts with his photographs and an appeal for vote and support for “Janata Ka CM”.

The Akalis too are keen on NRI support but appear to have given up active wooing after a couple of its ministers received hostile reception in the US and Canada over the last few months. They were booed at and not allowed to speak at public functions. Yet the Akalis claim support from a section of NRIs. The coming elections, it is certain, are likely to see an unprecedented participation of NRIs.

(The writer is a senior journalist based in Chandigarh)

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